SIOUX FALLS, SD - MARCH 4: Reggie Hamilton #23 of Oakland University flies past Damon Heuir #3 of Southern Utah during their game at the 2012 Summit League Basketball Championships in Sioux Falls, S.D. Sunday. (Photo by Dick Carlson/Inertia)

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- Two-time defending conference champion and third-seeded Oakland lost a late 11-point lead and got knocked out of the Summit League Tournament by No. 6 Southern Utah, 84-82, Sunday night at Sioux Falls Arena.

Reggie Hamilton had 31 points, but missed three consecutive free throws with less than two minutes remaining that could have iced the game.

"That's not me characteristically," he said. "I just missed them.

"I don't think I'll forget this day for a very long time. ... I'm really upset I had to go out this way to end my career."

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Hamilton hit a 3-pointer, one of six on the day, to put Oakland up 81-70 with 3:05 to play before Southern Utah used a 9-0 run to pull within two with 1:16 to play. Hamilton split a pair of free throws to put Oakland back up three, but that's the last the Grizzlies would score.

"A do-or-die situation like this, you have to finish it off," Oakland coach Greg Kampe said. "That's been the story of our season. We've really struggled pulling away from teams. I'm not surprised it came back and got us at the most important time."

Damon Heuir hit a 3 with 1:09 to play to tie the game at 82-82 before Jackson Stevenett put Southern Utah up for good with a lay-in with 12 seconds left.

Oakland led for the previous 16 minutes of the half after trailing at halftime.

"We didn't do the things we needed to do," junior Drew Valentine said. "We didn't get stops like we needed to and we need to give them credit for making some tough shots."

The Grizzlies won the tournament each of the past two years, earning the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Instead, Oakland may be attending a lower-profile postseason tournament, but Kampe wasn't sure after the game if his team deserved to play another game after the collapse.

"When Reggie missed both free throws, everybody knew we were in trouble," Kampe said. "A 90-percent free-throw shooter goes to the line in a five-point game, if he makes them, it goes back to seven and makes it a three-possession game."

Oakland played in the CollegeInsider.com tournament after losing on a last-second shot to North Dakota State in conference tournament championship game in 2009.

The Thunderbirds led by as many as 11 points in the first half before Oakland got fired up. The Grizzlies went on a 7-0 run to pull within four on a Hamilton 3-pointer with about eight minutes to play in the half. They then went ahead on another Hamilton 3 with 5:23 to play, but Southern Utah had an answer for every Oakland basket, as the Thunderbirds took a 43-40 lead into halftime.

Hamilton had 22 first-half points for Oakland, which started the game just 1 for 5 from the floor, but rebounded to shoot 48 percent for the half, including 9 for 18 from long range. They ended with a tournament-record 15 3s.

"When you're 15 of 27 from 3, you don't often lose," Kampe said. "We give them a lot of credit, but we did a lot of stupid stuff down the stretch that caused us to lose."

Travis Bader added 24 points, also hitting six 3s. The Grizzlies (17-15) got eight points each from Drew Valentine, who also had 11 rebounds; Laval Lucas-Perry and Corey Petros.

Entering Sunday's game, the Grizzlies had won eight straight over Southern Utah, including last month's overtime affair at the O'rena.

Oakland won the past two conference tournament titles after falling in the 2009 championship game on a last-second shot. The Grizzlies went 34-2 in regular-season conference play after that game, and 6-0 in Sioux Falls Arena.

This year was much different for Oakland, which battled back from a 2-4 start to the conference season to finish 11-7, swiping the third seed away from North Dakota State, which faltered down the stretch. Oakland won five straight in conference play to close out the season. The Grizzlies only swept two regular-season series this season: Against IPFW and the other being Southern Utah.

Oakland was 8-1 in Sioux Falls, where the conference tournament has been held the past four seasons. There's was the first time a sixth seed upset the No. 3 team since the 2007 tournament. Southern Utah also pulled the same feat on Oakland in 2003.